School Year Calendars

Event Calendar

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Family Handbook and Calendar

This annual publication is mailed to families every August.

School Start and End Times

Elementary School: 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Middle School: 9:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.
High School: 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.

Early Dismissal Times for 2024-25

Elementary K-5: 12:20 p.m.
Middle School: 1:15 p.m.
High School: 2 p.m.

Key Dates

Key Dates for the 2024-25 school year

Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024: First day of school (grades 1 to 12)

Sept. 2, 2024: No school/holiday

Sept. 3, 2024: First day for preschool, Promise Kindergarten and kindergarten

Sept. 20, 2024: No school/teacher workday

Oct. 18, 2024: No school/teacher workday

Nov. 11, 2024: No school/holiday (Veterans Day)

Nov. 28 to 29, 2024: No school/holiday

Dec. 23, 2024 to Jan. 3, 2025: No school/holiday (winter break)

Jan. 20, 2025: No school/MLK, Jr. day of service

Jan. 21, 2025: No school/built in weather makeup day if needed

Jan. 22, 2025: No school/day of commemoration (Treaty Day)

Jan. 28, 2025: Last day of first semester

Jan. 29, 2025: First day of second semester

Feb. 17, 2025: No school/holiday

March 14, 2025: No school/weather makeup day if needed

April 7 to 11, 2025: No school/holiday (spring break)

May 26, 2025: No school/holiday (Memorial Day)

June 5, 2025: Tentative date for Community Transitions graduation celebration at Depot Market Square

June 6, 2025: Tentative date and time for Options High School graduation ceremony (6 p.m.)  at Civic Stadium

June 7, 2025: Tentative date and times for graduation ceremonies for Bellingham (10 a.m.), Sehome (1 p.m.) and Squalicum (4 p.m.) high schools

June 13, 2025: Tentative last day of school (school year may get extended based on snow/closures)

Class of 2025 graduation communication

Message sent to 12th grade families Sept. 17

A message from Bellingham, Options, Sehome and Squalicum high schools

Dear seniors and families,

We have decided to tentatively schedule graduation for the class of 2025 for Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7 at Civic Stadium. We will share more details as the date gets closer.

We received positive feedback from recent graduates, families and staff about their experience at Civic, and we are hoping to continue our new tradition for the class of 2025.

We have also learned through snow days and the pandemic that our school calendar and plans sometimes need to change. We ask that you hold off on finalizing your plans for graduation until the end of February or early March (e.g. buying plane tickets for grandparents) in case we need to modify dates.

Please take note of these important dates for 2025:

  • Late February/early March: we plan to finalize our graduation dates and last day for seniors, if not before. Again, please do not make travel plans or other arrangements just yet; if the school year gets extended, then our graduation ceremonies would likely be the following week. If a day of school gets canceled after early March, graduation dates likely would not be affected to allow staff and families time to plan and out-of-town guests to make travel arrangements.
  • Thursday, June 5 is tentatively the last day for seniors with graduation rehearsals and other end-of-year events during the school day Friday, June 6. This could change if we have any snow days.
  • Thursday, June 5 is tentatively set for our event celebrating graduates of our Community Transitions program at Depot Market Square.
  • 6 p.m. Friday, June 6 is the tentative time/date for Options High school graduation ceremony at Civic.
  • Saturday, June 7 is the tentative graduation date for Bellingham (10 a.m.), Sehome (1 p.m.) and Squalicum (4 p.m.) high schools’ graduation ceremonies at Civic. Times are also tentative.
  • Please avoid making plans for the week of June 9 or you may miss the final days of school and/or end-of-year activities if dates change due to snow.

There is no perfect answer when it comes to school schedules, including graduation dates. We appreciate your flexibility and will send additional updates as needed.

Let us know if you have any questions.

 

Thanks,

Marty Atkins, Katie Jones, Sonia Cole and Laurel Peak

Principals of Bellingham, Options, Sehome and Squalicum high schools

 

 

Key Dates for 2025-26 school year

Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025: First day of school (grades 1 to 12)

Sept. 1, 2025: No school/holiday

Sept. 19, 2025: No school/teacher workday

Oct. 17, 2025: No school/teacher workday

Nov. 11, 2025: No school/holiday (Veterans Day)

Nov. 27 to 28, 2025: No school/holiday (Thanksgiving holiday)

Dec. 22, 2025 to Jan. 2, 2026: No school/holiday (winter break)

Jan. 19, 2026: No school/MLK, Jr. day of service

Jan. 22, 2026: No school/day of commemoration (Treaty Day)

Jan. 27, 2026: Semester break

Feb. 16, 2026: No school/holiday (Presidents Day)

March 13, 2026: No school/weather makeup day if needed

April 6 to 10, 2026: No school/holiday (spring break)

May 25, 2026: No school/holiday (Memorial Day)

June 15, 2026: Tentative last day of school (school year may get extended based on snow/closures)

June 16 -17, 2026: Weather makeup days if needed

 

Holidays

For planning purposes, please use our on our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion webpage to try to avoid high impact religious holidays.

When possible, staff avoid scheduling evening events and meetings on religious holidays in accordance with administrative procedure 2340P.